Contraction of the Brood-nest 57 



culture were given to lamenting the swarming of bees, because, they 

 said, with the swarm went all hopes of surplus. As the business was 

 then conducted, the "big guns" were correct in many instances. The 

 swarm would be hived in a ten-frame hive, and no supers put on until 

 the hive was filled. If they had been put on they would not have been 

 occupied until the lower hive was filled; and by the time this was ac- 

 complished it often happened that the white-honey harvest had passed. 

 If the old colony did not swarm again (usually it did), some return 

 might be expected from that, unless the season was nearly over. In most 

 of our Northern States the crop of white honey is gathered within six 

 weeks, often within a month. If a colony is in condition to begin work 

 in the supers at the opening of the white-honey harvest, and continues 

 faithfully at work without swarming, as I have already said, no con- 

 traction is needed ; but suppose the harvest is half over ; the bees are 

 working nicely in the supers; there may be one case of sections almost 

 ready to come off, another two-thirds finished, and a third in which the 

 work has only nicely commenced; now the colony swarms; what shall 

 be done? By hiving the swarm in a contracted brood-chamber upon 

 the old stand, transferring the supers to the newly hived swarm, and 

 practicing the Heddon method of preventing after-swarming, work will 

 be resumed and continued in the supers without interruption, and the 

 surplus will be nearly as great as though no swarming had taken place. 



When the brood-nest is only one tier of frames, the only way by 

 which it can be contracted is by taking out some of tire outside combs, 

 and filling the space, thus left, by using "dummies." A "dummy" is 

 simply a brood-frame with thin boards tacked upon each side. It hangs 

 in the hive and occupies space the same as a comb, only it is a dummy, 

 just as its name indicates. A frame wider than a brood-frame may be 

 used, and this will make the dummy thicker. Don't have the dumm}- 

 touch the sides of the hive, then the bees can not glue it fast. How thick 

 a dummy should be depends upon how many combs are to be removed. 

 When using the Langstroth frame I prefer to contract to five frames. 



With the Heddon hive, in which the brood-chamber is horizontally 

 divisible, simply using only one section of the brood-nest contracts the 

 brood-nest to about the proper capacity. This method of contraction 

 is preferable to using dummies. Not only is there less labor and com- 

 plication, but the flatness of the brood-nest, and the absence of any 

 dummies under the outer sections, make the bees more inclined to work 

 in the sections. 



When the brood-nest is very much contracted, it has a tendency 

 to cause a newly hived swarm to "swarm out" and leave the hive. When 

 there is trouble from this source the brood-nest may be used nearly or 

 quite full size for two or three days, until the swarming fever has abated 



